Links between pesticide use pattern and crop production in Denmark with special reference to winter wheat

Abstract

Pesticides are widely used in European crop production to stabilize yields and mitigate losses from weeds, diseases and insects. Detailed spray records reported per farm and crop have for the first time been collected and analyzed for a whole country, providing good and reliable information on specific spraying patterns in arable crops. Dividing farmers into farm types provided a clear picture on how crops and crop rotations influence pesticide use patterns. On sandy soils, dairy farmers represent the farm type with the least use of pesticides while potato growers had the highest use. On clay soil, mixed crop farms had the lowest and sugar beet growers the highest use of pesticides. Across all farm types, the input of pesticides in winter wheat varies significantly, indicating a differentiated approach to pest control. While all farmers use herbicides and fungicides in winter wheat, the dairy farmers use significantly fewer insecticides and plant growth regulators in winter wheat. Farmers cultivating more than 150 ha had a higher pesticide intensity than farmers with small farms, which was observed for both sandy and clay soil farmers.